By Donald Kipkorir
Let the great gods,
That keep this dreadful pudder o’er our heads,
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
That hast within thee undivulged crimes
Unwhipp’d of justice.
King Lear, Act III, Scene 2, William Shakespeare
The shooting today of Kuki Gallman by Pokot terrorists must be a wake up call. We cannot allow tribal terrorists to reign supreme in a civilized country. The law is clear: use and exercise of violence is an exclusive monopoly of the State.
Kuki Gallman has done more than any other Kenyan to sell Kenya abroad. Few Kenyans have won more awards and recognition.Though white, she has embraced Kenya wholeheartedly. As an author, poet and conservationist, Kenya’s image is known more in the Western capitals and more so in their aristocratic circles.
Tourism in Kenya, once our biggest export is on its death bed. Don’t be misled by the local media when they report sexed figures and arrivals of one ship carrying 250 tourists. Kenya has lost the regional tourism market to tiny Zanzibar. We have never reached 2million tourists while countries with real terrorism like Egypt and Tunisia receive over 10 million tourists.
I know we are in the mad season of political primaries. But political leadership in a country with collapsed economy is true madness. Laikipia is the last frontier of our tourism. If we let it go, then soon, very soon, we will be receiving 10,000 tourists like Nigeria and North Korea. Beside, tea, coffee having collapsed, tourism is our only export.
If we are to save tourism, then anyone who sabotages it must be treated as a terrorist. And Pokots who have illegally occupied Laikipia County and now shooting iconic Kuki Gallman must pay the ultimate price for terrorism: extra judicial killing. The Pokots in Laikipia must leave today … alive or dead.
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